Broken Souls
by AsculaRiddle
Summary: I only want to heal. I may not have been able to save my clan, but I can save these monsters. I'll save them, heal them, even if it costs my soul and my life. I'll stop the human, no matter the price I have to pay. (This is a short AU I created. It's very short...Rated T because of death and...I guess you can call it torture...?)
1. Chapter 1

Once, a long time ago, there was a war between humans and monsters. The humans won and sealed the monsters underground. Not all the monsters were caught, though. A few monsters were able to use their family's magical ability to make themselves look human apart from their hair color and their wings. At least, for a little while. Most of those who escaped were mere children. Orphans. They fled the country altogether.

Only a few of those monsters survived, only five would be left on the surface. But, this is a different story. You aren't here to learn about how those five found love among the humans, you are here for me.

My name is C.J, or Abbagail, or sometimes " _hey freak!"_ Usually, I go by Helvetica, or Helly for short. Don't know what my parents were thinking when they named me that, but it's not like I can just ask them.

Eventually, the bullying in America got to annoying, so I decided to take a trip. A trip across the ocean. Away I flew, soaring between the bright blue sky and the mysterious blue ocean. I arrived safely and perched on the top of a building in some city in England. Folding my red wings behind me, I quickly put a stolen trench coat on to hide them.

It was beautiful in my opinion. The small city was built in such a way that it didn't destroy the forest surrounding it, the bay wasn't trashed like the ocean back in America, and nobody was cutting down the sturdy tall trees.

I'd been there for an entire week before I had even realized that one of the tallest buildings in the city was a child's hospital. The following events were not my fault, honest to God.

I was at the beach, picking up driftwood for a fire, when a child got caught in a tide. They hit their head on a rock a a wave tried to drag them out to sea. I was in the water before his parents could even stand up. I dove in and was back on the sand with him in my arms in moments. Minor concussion and a lifetime fear of the ocean was all he got. Me? Well, I got cursed at and called a freak by his parents because I left a trail of red feathers when I was in the water.

Despite his obnoxious parents, I still visited the child in the hospital. I smiled at him, he grinned back. His eyes shone so bright. I couldn't remember the last time a child looked at me that way.

"Are you the angel that saved me?"

"I'm not an angel, but yes. Now, I need you to close your eyes, okay?"

He did as I asked with a smile. I gave him a kiss on the forehead, my eyes closed as well as my soft red light surrounded him. Soon, he was completely healed and was sleeping soundly. A peaceful sleep that would last for the night.

"All better?" I whispered in his ear before standing. I took another glance at him before leaving the room. The halls were dimly lit and there were no doctors or nurses in sight as I slipped into another room. A five year old girl lay motionless. She was a victim of a car crash, according to a clipboard hanging on the wall.

I held her hand for a moment before kissing her fingers. I closed my eyes as my light filled the room just like the last time. She did not wake up, thankfully, but her heartbeat became stronger and the various bruises and cuts on her bare skin began to fade slowly. Her mouth turned up into a grin in her sleep, and I smiled back.

I continued down the hall, looking for the kids in dire need of my help.

A child who would be having heart surgery in the morning, I merely gave her more strength to survive it. A twelve year old boy whose father beat him with a baseball bat. The doctors didn't think he would survive, at least not without serious brain trauma or whatever. He was awake when I walked in.

"Hello," I whispered as I closed the door behind me. He wasn't able to talk, but I could see in his eyes that he was terrified of me. "Shh, child, I'm not here to harm you."

I slid my giant trench coat off and spread my wings just a bit. His eyes grew wider, but not from fear this time, it was fascination. I smiled down at him.

"I'm going to heal you, child, but I need you to close your eyes."

He did as I asked immediately. I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. My light shined bright in the room, but not as bright as the others. Picked my jacket off the ground, ignoring the light-headedness as I stumbled into the hallway. A sudden weariness rolled over me as I entered another room.

A young child laid there with their eyes closed and a sweater clenched in their arms. It was dark blue with purple spots coloring the soft sweater. The sweater was in far better condition than the child, who had a large bandage on their face. I took a look at the clipboard so that I knew exactly what I needed to do. She had a few problems that not even I could fix, such as hallucinations or what the doctors put down as " _schitzaphrania?_ " because even they didn't know what was wrong with them. A nurse also wrote " _Sounds like some form of mental illness."_ and I couldn't help but chuckle at the stupidity. PTSD is what it sounded like to me, but I'm just a kid.

I mean, what do kids know? At least I know how to properly spell schizophrenia. In their sleep, the kid twitched and awoke, sitting up in their bed.

"Who are you? What are you doing in here?"

"I'm here to help you. Now please, lay back down." I gently pushed them back down, trying not to touch their many cuts and bruises on their bare arms. Why the doctors didn't put bandages or something on her arms is beyond me.

"You can't help me any more than these doctors have."

"Close your eyes, child, and I will heal you fully."

They refused, so I waved my hand over their eyes, putting them into a deep sleep. They were the last one who wouldn't last at least a week, seeing as the hospital totally sucked and didn't notice how her wound was a lot worse than they'd thought. I healed their stab wound, before jumping out the window and flew to the home I'd made in the forest near the mountain. I collapsed on my canopy bed and passed out for three days.


	2. Chapter 2

I watched as the child with the spotted sweater wandered through the trees. I remembered them.

I stayed in the trees, hopping from branch to branch while following the running child. I could hear sobs coming from them as they ran faster and faster…

Perhaps it's because I was in the trees that I could see it before them. With one mis-step the child fell into a hole in the ground. A deep hole. A wide one, and a large tree root protruding from the ground to trip them.

The young child tripped, fell, and disappeared from view. I stared down, dumbfounded for a moment, before slipping off my coat and spreading my wings. I beat my wings once so that I hovered just above the hole, then folded my wings and dived headfirst into the hole. As I dropped down the hole, I tied the jacket around my shoulders so it'd be out of the way.

I beat my wings once just before hitting the ground and landed softly on the bed of flowers, the petals tickling the bottom of my bare feet. But the child was there. Now, I may have given up on school, but I wasn't an idiot. There is one path out of the room with the flower bed I stood in, so that was the way the child went.

I was worried, to be honest. I had explored every nook and cranny in this forest, except for down here. Something down here terrified me, urging me to go back, but curiosity and worry overpowered me. _At least for now._

As I came to the end of the hallway, I froze as I looked through the arched corridor, another room at the end. The child was in the next room, talking to something in another flowerbed with their back to me.

"Hey there, I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower! Say, I don't recognize you, are you new to the the Underground?"

"Yes."

"Hey, somebody should teach ya how things work around here!"

Suddenly all the colors disappeared. The only light was red, shining from the child. They cast shadows around the room which danced as the child moved around a little.

"That's your soul! It's the very culmination of your being, so protect it at all costs."

I finally saw the child's soul. It was a dark red, almost the same color as my wings.

"Your soul can become stronger with lots of LV. What's LV? It's LOVE, of course! Down here, LOVE is shared through little white...friendliness pellets!" A few white, seed-like things appeared above the the smiling flower. "Move around, get as many as you can!"

As the pellets floated towards the child, they tried to dodge them. One was faster than them, though, and hit their chest. The child cried out in pain and I ran over to them, my soul jumping out as I caught them. I must have entered the fight when interfering. My soft red soul wasn't like theirs, it was sideways with only a red center. Flecks of all colors floated around in the white part, like the driftwood I used to collect.

I held the child close to me, wanting to heal them, but could not for reasons unknown.

"Who are you!? Another hum- wait, your soul is sideways." Flowey's evil grin disappeared as he studied my soul with his eyes. Then he smiled again, even wider. He smiled so wide that his face didn't look like it fit his stem body.

"Ah, who cares what you are! You are both fools to think you could survive down here! Don't you know? It's a kill or be killed world!"

He began to laugh as his "friendliness pellets" circled around us, closing in. Just as they were about to hit us, the child in my arms was healed. Flowey looked at us in confusion before a fireball hit him, sending him flying across the room. As soon as his root hit the ground, the flower disappeared into the earth.

A goat-like creature came running down the hall then, and I let go of the now-conscious child. I put my finger to my lips in a silent "shh" and took off running back to where we'd came from.

Fear overtook me finally and I spread my wings as I stood on the bed of flowers. A single red feather fell as I lifted myself up with a beat of my wings. Higher...Higher. Just a little higher! And just before I was out of the hole, I hit a ceiling that wasn't there. I hit it at full speed, the pressure breaking my hand and wrist as I reached for the sun.

I wish I could say I ignored the pain some awesome back flip or something then landed on my feet, but I can't. I could say it was just my hand, but that's not true either. Whatever had kept me from leaving the Underground knocked me unconscious. I fell far down onto the flowers that we'd trampled. I landed on my back with a deafening scream that I knew nobody would hear.

And no, it was not only my hand and wrist that I broke because of my weakness.


	3. Chapter 3

I sobbed as I clenched my eyes closed and my light filled the room, but I couldn't heal myself. That was one rule of my magic, I couldn't use it one myself. I could, although, ease some of the pain of the broken bones and set them. I slipped my jacket back on, careful not to mess up my bones even more.

Then, once more, I made my way through the hall. I stared at where the flower had been for a moment before turning towards the hall the goat-lady had come from.

"You really don't know what's going on here, do you?" I heard Flowey say it, but when I turned he wasn't there. He spoke again, but I still couldn't find where his voice was coming from.

"While you laid unconscious on a bed of flowers, your little friend took out a knife."

"Where'd they get that?"

"They probably killed the last owners judging by the way they've been hunting down monsters."

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said. Even I'm not that evil, you filthy half breed. My pe-...The people of the Ruins are going to be destroyed if you don't help them, so go!" I heard a familiar "fump!" and recognized it from when Flowey had fled the battle. But, I took his word for it, against all my instincts, if I might add. I took off running, trying to catch up to the child.

Puzzles and traps blocked the path. Any puzzles that weren't already solved I merely jumped across. My feet did get wet a few times though. I stopped beside a battle dummy, which had been knocked over and missing an arm. I stood the dummy up right before continuing. That's when I saw it, a pile of dust.

There was a small shoeprint through the dust. A child's. So disrespectful towards the dead. I grew angry. The child may not have the decency to spared the life of the poor creature, but they should know to at least not step on the body.

"I'm sorry. I caused this, therefore I will end it." I closed my eyes and bowed. Somebody that cared deeply for this monster would find them hopefully, then give them the proper funeral.

I took off running again. I ran past puzzles, tripped past holes in the floor and continued on. I noticed that there wasn't anymore dust piles. I stopped only to catch my breath, leaning against a lone pillar in a long hall. I left the hall, walking this time. A frogitt stood beside a pile of leaves, crying. I knelt beside it.

"What happened here?" The frogitt jumped in surprise.

"The human, it killed everyone after Lady Toriel left it alone. Say, are you a human? Are you with the other?"

"No to both question. Now, can you tell me how long ago the child went through here?"

"About fifteen minutes?"

"F-fifteen m- I must hurry to stop them." I stood and turned to continue but the frogitt stopped me.

"Wait! That human, it's killed almost everyone here in Ruins, I'll need to show you the way. I will give you everything I own, just, please, protect me." The frogitt dropped down a small sack at my feet, filled to the brim with gold.

"Fine, but we must hurry."  
With the monster as my guide, I hurried past the piles of dust, a tear slipping at the familiarity of the sight. The frogitt solved all the puzzles he could by running ahead, and told me how to solve the ones I couldn't.

Soon, we came to a room, a spider bake sale, I took a minute to catch my breath and buy a few donuts. I was so hungry, seeing as I hadn't eaten in so long. I ate only one, then continued.

I finally caught up with the human as we neared the final destination. But, nothing went as planned. The human walked away before Moldsmal turned to dust.

"Go after the human, you can't save them anyways!" Frogitt began hopping towards where the human was, disappearing around the corner. But I didn't move. I held the monster in my lap as it turned to dust, then closed my eyes.

My red light was not as calming this time. I had known how it would feel trying to save a monster, but I could heal this one. The souls of me and the monster's jumped out, tangling up for a moment before the monster soul had a pink tint where it had begun to dust.

The dust began lifting off the ground, turning to its original color and itself back on Moldsmal. It was as if watching them die in reverse until they were whole. I smiled at the sleeping monster, then remember my guide, who was calling my name. I shakily stood and turned the corner. My frogitt and another monster lay there, turning to dust as the human continued down the corridor.

"Froggitt?" I whispered in his ear, closing mine and shielding his. Once again, our souls intertwined for a moment before he healed. But, this time was slightly different. I healed them both at once, nearly killing myself from exertion. It's sort of like...having to lift something so heaving that if you drop it it'll kill you, but you can't drop it. I felt their pain and cried silently from their stab wounds.

As they slept silently, I stood and continued on, tripping and falling. I nearly fell asleep, but I stood instead. I stumbled, wincing at my own wounds. I had no strength to ease my own pain, and yet I still healed the next three monsters the human had left to die.

I made my way through the hall, nearly running into a wall. I stumbled and fell into a pile of leaves at the base of a black tree. My vision blurred and faded as I watched the monsters I'd saved running towards me.


	4. Chapter 4

"Wa…" I stared up at my guide. He was saying something but the only thing I could hear was my uneven heartbeat thumping in my ears.

"Can...hear…?" Budump. Another monster stood beside Frogitt, leaning over me. Bump bump.

"Is...even alive?"

"She's fine. She'll be...kay."

"Frogitt?" I choked, my voice hoarse as I looked up at him. I looked to the right where Moldsmal was dancing excitedly. "How...long?" I asked as I sat up on my elbows. My head spun and I cried out at the painful reminder of my broken arm.

"All night. The human could've killed Toriel by now."

"You could've told her everything! Why would you wait for me to wake up?"

"We tried to tell Lady Toriel, but she wouldn't hear us out. She didn't answer the door the second time we knocked and we're to intimidated by her to enter anyways." My frogitt friend shrunk away from my furious eyes.

"Help me up." The frogitt only reached my waist, but he still help by pushing on my waist while some other monsters pulled on my good arm. I nearly collapsed on my first step, but the monsters help me up.

"When this is all over, I want to sleep under that tree," I mumbled to my helpers. As we approached the door, the only one left pulling me along was my guide.

"I'll be sure of it. If you stop this human, you'll be a hero." We were in the house now. I turned to my guide as I came to the stairs.

"Stay in this house, please. For an hour at least. If I don't return, come down to see what happened." I gave him a shaky smile.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, my friend."

"Same. I hope this will not be a final farewell."

I bowed as far as I could go and he returned it without hesitation. I took a step down, my broken hand held close to my chest. I traveled down the stairs and through the halls as quickly as my body would allow, but I wasn't able to find the child. Instead, Toriel lay on the ground, half of her body dust.

"Toriel?" I whispered in the ear that remained. Her soul hovered above her chest, already turning to dust. I closed my eyes, trying to heal her. But, as her body healed, her soul continued to disintegrate. My soul and her's intertwined as usual, but when our souls separated, her's merely restarted the dusting process.

In desperation, I healed her soul again, only this time I refused to let our souls separate. Souls seemed to battle, both wanting to go back to their body, but unable to. They both pulled apart, but a small piece of the souls were left in each other. In Toriel's soul, the purple flake from mine came out and sealed the wound.

I smiled as Toriel's soul returned to her body. So much strength left my body as my soul returned. Pain burned my bones and I screamed.

And I screamed.

And I begged for mercy from the blurry thing standing above me. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was a blur of purple and blue.


	5. Chapter 5

Even though my body hurt, my mind was calm within the darkness. It was so dark.

Then everything was so bright.

In the center of the large bedroom, two children played with toy animals. One of the children was a human, and the other was a monster. They wore matching green sweaters with yellow spots on them.

My children. No, _her_ children.

The human began laughing at their brother's pun. What's their names? They both turned towards me. The human's bright eyes were as red as my wings. The children both wore silver lockets, now that I can see them.

"Mamma!" Both children stood and ran over to me. I embraced them in a hug, tears in my eyes for some reason. I closed my eyes smiled.

"My child, open your eyes."

I opened them expecting to see Toriel. Toriel the caretaker of the Ruins. But it wasn't her. It was home. My home back before I came to Ebott. My room before it had burned. My mother, my grandparents. All of them...before they'd been dusted.

"Mom?" I choked back a sob as she stood beside my bed. She wore a strange purple dress, which didn't blend well with her red feather hair and skin. I reached my hand out to the confused woman, then faultered.

"I-I don't…" My mother looked over to something beside her. I hadn't noticed him before, or perhaps he hadn't been there.

"I know this day," I mumbled. "My wings were coming in and I was in so much pain. But that was so long ago, and the only pain I feel is from the broken bones. This isn't even real, is it? Just a hallucination. Or perhaps I'm dying and my memory's flashing before my eyes."

The man, who is he? He's blurry, but he's real. A...skeleton? He wore a blue sweater with the hood up.

"This day...it was the last one…" My eyes dropped. "Father returned with others." I stared at Toriel. "They started with their wings, ripping them off with their bare hands. Father held me, forcing me to watch. Mother was the first to die, and I sat beside her, weeping into the dust."

Toriel knelt beside the bed, holding my hand as I stared at the ceiling. It's not real, it's just a dream again. Any moment, the humans will throw the fire through the window.

"Then they killed Grandma and Grandpa."

The room began to start fire. Above me, a circle of dust began leaking through the ceiling.

"And then, my little half brother ran. A child. His blue feathers fell as he ran, but he wasn't like me. He was a monster, and so they ripped his wings off as I cried for him."

A few tears slipped as the dream dust formed a small hand, reaching out to me.

"And I broke. I broke my last promise to mother to save him. With a single scream, I released my power and killed every human present. But it was for nothing. Maybe if I'd known what I know now, maybe then I wouldn't've had to watch him die…"

The fire spread to the others, burning away the hallucination. Toriel was still kneeling beside me, tears and worry covering her face. She was part of her hand. The skeleton man's forced smile looked terrifying. His eye sockets were blank and dark. His hands were hidden in his pockets, yet I could tell they were clenched and shaking.

"I'm sorry about your hand, Toriel. I couldn't-"

"It's fine, you did great. Really, you saved so many lives today. Because of you, I'm still alive. You sacrificed your own soul to save me, a stranger."

I looked at her, confused for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"You don't...you do know that when you heal it puts strain on your soul, right?"

"That would explain why monsters are harder to heal than humans." I began to sit up, my heart racing in my ears and my body burning.

"What are you...wait, don't! You are barely alive, you need to rest!'

"Madam Toriel, I thank you for the help, but I refuse to rest that human is stopped. Or until I die."

I put my feet on the warm carpet of the bedroom. There was a trail dust to the bed from the door and covering my feet and pants.

"Where's this from?"

"You," Toriel stared at me sadly as I lifted one of my pant legs up to my knee. The skin was gone, melting. All that was left was bone and grayish flesh. It didn't hurt in particular, but it did make me feel sick to the stomach. Nevertheless, I stood despite her protest.

"My hand?" I clenched my fist, half expecting broken bones to scream back in protest.

"I healed you while you slept. Your wings too."

"Wings?" The skeleton finally spoke. I stared at him for a moment as he continued to speak. But I couldn't hear him, I couldn't see him. Everything was fuzzy. I couldn't even feel it when Toriel caught me so I didn't bash my head on the nightstand.

"I'm...sorry," I whispered to her as she laid me down on the bed. "But...I can't. I need to go."

That's about the time I felt dust in my hand. I felt a stillness in the room, but it was for a strange reason. My eyes flew open as I heard somebody cry out. It was bright and white. The human was walking past two dying monsters.

"The human, they're still killing them. I have to...I've got to…" I sat up again, doing my best to ignore the lightheadedness and through my leg over the side of the bed. I ignored the looks that Toriel sent me as I stumbled out the door. To my surprise, every monster I'd saved was either standing or sitting against the wall in the hallway. My frogitt guide was the first to greet me.

"My friend?" Frogitt stood in front of my, worry evident in his eyes when he saw me. He may have seem the dust on my hand or leg, or perhaps it was the blood. "H-how are you feeling?"

"Like a million dollars." I gave him a small smile. "See ya later." I stumbled past him and towards the stairs.

"My friend, you mustn't leave! In your state, you'll die before you even get to the door!"

"I'll be fine." I continued on, ignoring the small monsters as they tried to pull me back. "Stop."

I shut my eyes when they wouldn't let go. With a small burst of red light, everybody in the room collapsed to the ground in a deep sleep. Or, at least, that's what I told Sans it was.


	6. Chapter 6

"I suppose it didn't affect you because you don't actually have eyes."

"I don't understand how you can be walking around. Your soul should have shattered the moment a piece was ripped out."

I took a step into the dark hallway, Sans walking behind me. Our footsteps echoed down the stone hall.

"It was replaced."

"Sure, but it became cracked up the side. You need to see your soul before you heal ag-"

"I will see my soul. I will see it right before I use it. I do not care if I die, Sans, not if I can save a few people beforehand." I wiped away a dribble of blood from my mouth before Sans could see it.

"If you keep exerting yourself like this, you'll die, and then you'll never keep the promise you made to your guide."

"Promise? I don't remember making a promise, but whatever. I'm not beaten easily."

"No, you aren't. In fact, I bet you'll be the last monster to stand against the human."

"That'll be the problem, huh? I shouldn't have to stand alone. If others joined together, then the human wouldn't stand a chance." I felt a wave of sadness wash over me as we reached the door.

"There's one more thing I don't understand. One more question," he said as I yanked the door open. I sighed.

"What's that?"

"When the light went off, your hand healed itself and you were no longer as weak."

"That's not a question."

"Yeah, but I'd still like to know the answer."

"Well I...You know exactly what I did. They know too, now that they're waking up. I doubt that they like me very much, therefore they will not try to stop me again."

"You...sucked the energy out of them?" Sans stopped in his tracks as I opened the other door. A gust of cold air sent shivers down my spine. I took a step out and took off my jacket, spreading my wings.

"Yes." I turned to Sans. "But I must go now, I'll accept the punishment for my actions later. For now, I must go."

I turned back to the snow and beat my wings. I flew just above the trees, careful that I didn't go to high. It didn't take long before I found them. There were many puzzles along the way, all of which were solved.

The human was in the middle of a battle with two dogs. The swung at the male, then swung a second time at the female, slashing them both in the chest. The male, bloody and dusty, caught his wife and held her as they turned to dust.

"See ya!" The human took off running, leaving them to die. I dropped beside them, placing my hand on their chests.

"Save her!"

"Save him!"

I wasn't about to choose only one to save, so I called both their souls out at once, then called for my own.

My own soul had a large piece in the side that was purer and glowed whiter than the rest. A large crack did run along the side, but I didn't care as the three souls intertwined for a moment. I felt my energy drain, only for some of the strength to be restored by their willing and strong souls. Without all the energy, they fell asleep. I smiled at their sleeping faces and stood. They would be okay, though they might get cold in the snow.

I spread my wings and took off again, only to stop not far down the path. Again, I called out the souls, healing the two monsters turning to dust. They slept, some of their energy filling me with just enough power to continue on. But, no matter how hard I tried, the human was faster than me. They fought three monsters in the time it took me to save one. I flew through a small town called Snowdin, stopping only to buy a cinnamon roll because I was starving and I'd eaten the donuts. I used the gold my old guide had given me. My energy was replenished a little, but I was still exhausted.

"Thank you," I said to the empty stand as I put some gold in their money box. I nibbled at the food as I continued searching for the human. I found them, but I didn't do anything. I watched from behind a tree as the the human and a monster spoke. I knew I couldn't fight, I had no weapon. The world went black and white as they went into battle.

The tall skeleton opened his arms for a hug.

Papyrus spared the human.

I saw something then, hovering slightly above the human's shoulder, whispering in their ear. Even from all the way over there, I could hear the echoing pleas. The red eyed thing was crying as the human drew their knife.

"Please, stop! You don't have to kill him, SPARE him! Please, Frisk, I'm begging you!"

"Shut up, Chara."  
The human, Frisk, attacked Papyrus. For a brief moment, the skeleton seemed to be fine. Then his head fell into the snow and his body turned to dust.

"I-I still believe in yoouuu!" Frisk kicked his head, sending him into the trees. I rushed to the head, closing my eyes and casting my light on him as I picked him up.

"It'll be fine Papyrus." I barely kept his head from turning to dust as I stumbled into the clearing.

"Papyrus!" I heard Sans call his name as I knelt beside the dust. A drop of my blood mixed with his dust as I called out his soul from the pile.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry…" I began crying as I healed him. I felt my leg deteriorate as his body reformed. His shoulders first, so his head would have a place to rest. His eyes (eye sockets?) drooped as Sans sat on his opposite side. He was crying too.

His soul and mine intertwined, but, just like Toriel's, his soul wouldn't stay together. I forced them together, asking Sans to close his eyes for a moment so that he wouldn't see what was about to do.

From my soul, the orange shard was ripped out. I began to sleep. So dark, so peaceful.

"Sans...help?" I collapsed beside his stable but unconscious brother. Sans' eyes flew open and he stepped over his brother to beside me. He glanced at Papyrus, but his hand gripped mine.

"Thank you, thank you." His eye sockets teared a bit as he held my hand to his chest.

"But I'm not...ready to die...please help me?"

"How?"

I put my hand on his chest, calling his soul out. Mine came out in response.

"Loan me...some strength?" His eyes blinked out momentarily, but he looked to the hand he was holding. The skin was turning to dust, leaving behind a painful looking wound.

"Yes."

As with the other boss monsters, our souls intertwined. A shard of his soul and the dark blue flake of mine switched places. Only this time, the light from his soul shone on mine.

Sans passed out with his head on his brother.

I stood despite the burning in my arm. My hand was only bone now, kept together only because I happened to have two skeleton souls mixed with mine. A tear slipped as I spread my wings. I spread them wider anyways and lept into the air.

I left a trail of feathers and dust as I continued following the human.


	7. Chapter 7

I landed with a thud among a field of flowers. I began to cry and the flowers cried back. But, out of all the wailing flowers, one of them stood out above all the others. A familiar voice, and I could tell it wasn't just an echo.

"What are you doing? Get up! The human, Frisk, is a psychopath and is about to kill a child." Flowey was nowhere in sight, but I stood anyways.

"I'm so tired."

"It's probably because of that smiley trashbag Sans."

I was walking now instead of flying. Feathers continued falling as I stumbled forward. "No, it isn't from him. I'm so tired, Flowey. Please, let me rest."

"Did you not hear me? A child will die if you do not stop the human!"

I opened my dusting wings, crying out as the dust began falling again. Yet, I took off, leaving the flowers behind. I flew on, blood and dust matting my once-magnificent wings. My wings…

I neared a bridge, a young child holding onto the ledge by its teeth. I folded my wings and dropped down to catch him as he fell. But, as we fell, I couldn't open my wings again. I held the child to my chest and tried to grab hold of a hole, but getting my hand stuck in the process. I cried out as my arm snapped again. But, at least we were alive.  
"We're alright!" The child called up to the other monster up there.

"Speak for yourself, kid." My wings twitched upward. Inch by inch, my wings began flapping. "It'll be fine, kid." Slowly, with the help from the rocky cliff, I made my way up with the child. He had no arms, so he had to hang onto me with his legs and tail.

"We're almost there!" The kid looked over my head to the bridge.

"Alright, kid, but please don't so much or we might fall."

"Okay!"

Slowly we made our way to the top, our souls popping out of our chests in response to the battle. Undyne's legs were turning to dust and they were wearing different armor.

Undyne the Undying.

The human swung their knife at the warrior, moving faster than I could ever run. But I still ended up between the monster and the human. I felt the knife cut through the flesh and skin and part of my ribs.

But at least the monster was alright.

"You've failed human. Don't you know? I've been healing the monsters you cut down." My body began to deteriorate as I lunged at the fearful human. "You will get what you deserve!"

I swiped at them with my good arm, only to jump away from their swinging knife. I lunged again. They swung again. My fist caught their face finally. They stumbled backward then grinned, spitting out a tooth. With one quick motion, they threw their knife at the kid, hitting him square in the chest.

"No…" I turned and watched, unable to do anything. One of my legs were completely bone now, and I could feel the dust trickling down from the right side of my face. I glared at the human, then fled the battle, trying to run to them, while Undyne was trying to crawl to the kid's side.

"I-I'm sorry kid." I pulled the knife out and summoned his soul. "It'll be fine. It's going to be fine, I promise."

Undyne took the kid's head and held it. The dust was beginning to mix from both the monsters. I summoned Undyne's soul.

"It'll be okay…" I whispered as my soul and theirs tangled. Undyne's soul, much to my surprise, took a chunk out of the center of mine. Determination. Just a little bit. The last thing I heard was somebody calling my name. My name. My real name. They didn't call me Helvetica or Helly. CJ or Abbagail. Just a dream?

No, I must've died.


	8. Chapter 8

If I'd died, though, why did everything hurt so badly? And it was so bright. I felt a pillow under my head and a blanket up to my shoulders. I heard mumbling all around the couch I was laying on.

"WIll she be okay? Will she even wake up?" Toriel. She sounded worried. I wanted to cry, to call out to the woman and let her know I was fine. I'm okay…"

"P-p-probably not, my Queen."

"It's Torial. And are you sure there's nothing we can do?"

"Her s-soul has been nearly completely destroyed. T-the only thing w-w-we can do is keep her alive until we can stabilize her soul. B-but-"

"She will never be the same…" Sans. He was there too?  
"Am...I dead?" I whispered. I heard them gasp as my eyes fluttered open and I looked to them. A tear began to form in my eyes. "But then, are you...gone to? Did...I fail?"

"N-no my child! How are?"

"I can't...feel anything...anything momma." The pain had suddenly stopped. I almost wished it was back, because I couldn't move now. I couldn't feel the warmth of Toriel's hand.

"It'll be alright. We'll fix you up, then we can go home."

"But, what about...the human?"

"Don't worry about it. Everybody you saved are teaming up to stop them." Sans gave me a reassuring smile as he spoke.  
"The child and Un...dyne?"

"T-they are both fine. I-in f-f-fact, the ch-child stayed t-to thank you. A-and Undyne w-w-went to help t-take down the h-human." The yellow lizard in a doctor's coat startled me.

"Doc...tor?"

"S-s-scientist, actually. My n-names Alphys."

"Not much...self confidence." I grinned as Alphys looked to the floor. That was rude, why would I say that?

But I wasn't done.

"You are...fools to let those monsters attack...the human. They cannot win...not without more help."  
"Every monster in the Underground has joined together against the one child." Sans was just staring at me now, not that he really needed to blink.

"And yet...two of the most powerful monster are standing at...the bedside of some freak. Go...help them." The pain hadn't returned. No feeling or movement was in my bones. And I was so tired.

Don't close your eyes.

I looked around the room at a monitor on the far wall. I watched the human on it. They were fighting against many monsters that were taller and more vicious than they. Fear filled Frisk's eyes as they were surrounded. I smiled, but my eyes blurred in and out.

But I didn't close them.

I watched the screen until the human began screaming, not that I could hear them. Frisk collapsed to the ground, their body being ripped apart and stabbed by various weapons of the monsters. A red soul hovered above the monsters until somebody grabbed it, Undyne. The fish monster put their face up to the camera, a thumbs up on one hand and a red soul in the other.

I smiled and closed my eyes.

"I guess...I was wrong…"


	9. Chapter 9

A nightmare. That's all it was, right? Or perhaps, this is the nightmare? Why am I alive? Perhaps to make up for my sins. Because I killed those humans so long ago? This is what I get. This is what I deserve.

I began sobbing, my eyes still closed with a cloth set over them. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move. I could scream, however. I screamed at the pain in my body. No, not in my body, in my soul. I could barely hear the soothing of Toriel's voice. It didn't help. I grabbed her arm and squeezed with my broken limb. The pain of it was drowned of by the pain in my soul.

"K-kill me...please. Please."

I began screaming again. Somebody put something in my mouth, preventing me from biting my tongue off.

This is what I deserve.

I reached towards my throat with my boney hand, trying to claw at it, but somebody grabbed it. I pulled away, but they tied me to whatever bed I was on.

"Hold still, I can help you!" Sans' hands were on my shoulders as he yelled at me.

Suddenly, the pain was gone. Tears still slipped, and my throat was hoarse, but a stillness settled in the room. I could feel the blood and cuts in my bone and flesh and flesh hands, my fingernails had cut deep into them. My wings, they felt light, and there was no pain in them.

"It's her soul. It must be from…" Sans trailed off, sorrow in his voice.

"What happened?" My voice was scratchy and painful sounding.

"You were right, my child. About how the human would win. Five monsters died. Your soul felt their pain as they died, only ten fold." I felt Toriel's soft hands rest on mine, healing the self-inflicted wounds.

"Who?" I heaved.

"Moldsmal, Snowdrake, Icecap…"

"And?" I panted, trying to catch my breath.

"Frogitt, your guide, and the Monster Kid you saved at the bridge."

"Why...was there a child out there?"

"W-we don't know."

"Is the human...dead?"  
"Yes, and their soul is with Asgore." Toriel said it in barely a whisper, but I could hear in her voice she had hoped…

"It's not your fault, mother. I...am the reason Frisk came here. I...saved their life, and they must've gone searching for...me."

Silence.

"You sure know how to pick 'em, don't you." Sans' voice was controlled, but it slightly wavered. Everybody noticed.

"Sans, it isn't her fault!"

"Yes...it is." A sob ripped through my chest as new tears formed. "I'm so...I'm so sorry. I wish I could...fix it. Go back...and try again? I wouldn't make the same...mistake."

"It's not your fault, kid-"

"Helvetica." I interrupted him.

"What?" Sans asked.

"My name... is Helvetica. Usually. But...my friends call me Helly." If I had any friends, that is.

"Helly, please, don't beat yourself up over this. It isn't your fault, and it's only because of you that we are alive," Toriel said. I felt her hand brush across the side of my face. The side of my face that hadn't melted, that is.

"If I've...done so well, then why won't you...let me die?"

Silence again. It burned at my ears as I waited for a word. A sound. Even the crashing of mots and pans wouldn't have been as unnerving as this.

"...Please?"


	10. Chapter 10

But they refused.

Soon, I was asleep again. A peaceful sleep with dreams full of happiness and memories. Not my memories, though.

"Chara, Asriel, wash up for dinner!" I sat two plates of pie at the table, my snowy white fur surprising me for some reason.

No, not my hands.

Toriel sat down, pulling out a ball of yarn. She blinked, and suddenly everything changed. No longer were the hands those of Toriel, and no longer was there a ball of yarn beside her. O sat on the couch, sewing by hand a red scarf. Papyrus's red scarf. The bony hand of Sans worked quickly, only to grumble as he accidentally sewed his sleeve to it. I watched carefully as he finished the seam and held up his masterpiece. Then the dream changed again.

I was taller. Sans was sitting on the couch behind me. I began looking through the gifts under the tree. One of them caught our eye. A big white box with a red bow.

"WHAT IS IT?" I-Papyrus asked.

"Open it and find out."

Papyrus opened it and happiness filled us as he pulled out a scarf and put it on.

"I LOVE IT BROTHER!"

But the memory changed just before we gave Sans a hug. I was small...young. I felt a soft hand brushing back my hair into a ponytail. I only had one eye

"Undyne," said the man who was putting my hair back. Perhaps he was a guardian? Caretaker? "How was your day?"

"It was fine G-"

The memory was cut short, though. I thought I was waking up, but no. A child sat beside me, their green and yellow sweater telling me exactly who they were.

"Chara, child of Toriel. Sibling to Prince Asriel."

They looked over at me, their bangs hiding eyes I knew were red. We sat in the guest bedroom at Toriel's place. The room was dark and the floor littered with broken toys and dust.

"Yes. And you are?"

"They call e Helvetica, or Helly for short."

"But that isn't your name."

"No."

"It's a pleasure to meet the person who saved my family and friends. My people. Thank you so much."

"Where are we?"

"This is what's left of Frisk's memories."

"But it's so…"  
"Warped? Yes. this is how Frisk saw the world. Dark. Dangerous. They couldn't see the difference between their nightmares and the world. A lot like I was, to be honest. I was the same way when I fell, but Asriel was there. He helped me. They all did."

A pang of sadness echoed in my body.

"I'll give you a choice though. You could go back, do it all over. You could save Frisk and my brother, or you stay here with me. Forever."

Chara stood and walked to the door, opening it. There was just darkness beyond our little room. They looked back at me, waving for me to follow so I did. As they closed the door behind us, the room disappeared. An empty, black void was all there was.

"This is where Frisk would go after they died. There are two choices, Reset and return to when you fell, or Continue you journey from you last SAVE point."

"So...I'm dead? But, isn't that a good thing?"

"Depends. I am here because Frisk woke me up, but I don't know about you. You may not be able to leave until- oh, look at this." Chara pointed past me at the visible, yellow buttons. A new one had appeared.

 _Quit_

"THat one will allow you to rest in piece."

"For how long?"  
"Until somebody remembers your true name."

"Nobody knows it."

"Then you will never awaken. But, be warned, once you press that button you can't come back. Toriel will have to bury another child and everybody you saved will forever feel like a piece of their souls and selves are missing."

"But I-" I thought on it for a moment. "Is there any way to keep that soul from being destroyed, but for me to...move on?"

"I suppose you could give it to Asriel. Or me. OR both. If we had it, we could live again, only with your soul. We would tell Toriel and everybody what you did for us. Promise."

I smiled sadly at them.

"I'm going to make you a deal. A promise."

I leaned in and whispered into their ear. The next time I was there, I would give Asriel and Chara my soul. That way, everything would be fixed.

And I pressed a button and I woke up. The trampling of leaves below me woke me from a deep slumber. I felt well rested and dropped down in front of the human. Frisk.


	11. Chapter 11

"Hello, Frisk, do you remember me?"

"Yes, I remember you. The angel who saved me. The only light within the darkness. THe only pure thing I can see within this evil world."

"Wow, much more in your answer than I expected."

"Well, I've been trying to find you since you healed me."

"Frisk...do you remember waking in a bed of flowers? Do you remember killing everyone? Do you remember how you died by their hands, and I by your's?"  
The child stared at the ground.

"Frisk, why? I can understand why it would be frightening, but you didn't have to kill them. They could have been the family you've always wanted."

Frisk's eyes shot up and they glared at me. "I don't want a family, and certainly not a false one. You know, you're actually just something new. SO many times I've woken up on that flower bed. Only this run and the one before is different.

"I have saved everyone more times than I can count. I have killed them all even more. Over and over again, Chara sobbing in my ear as I do so. I know they would've been kind to me. Toriel would've adopted me, Papyrus would've taught me to make his disgusting spaghetti."

"But you don't want to be happy. Or at least, your mind won't let you. For the rest of your days, your brain will remind you that happiness will bring pain."

They went silent, then turned and began tramping through the woods again.

"I can't fix you-"

"I'm not a toy! I don't want to be fixed!"

"-therefore, you will continue to kill them all. I can't let you do that, Frisk." i watched them solemnly as they froze in place. "Please, I don't want to hurt you, even after you did to them."

"What are going to do if I say no? What if I choose to fight you?"

"Then I will put you in a deep sleep and drag you through the Underground. I will take your soul, and I will use it to break the barrier. Everyone will be happy, everyone will be free. Everyone except for you, that is. But I don't want that. I hold the power to Reset now."

I noticed as they gulped. A wave of fear washed over their eyes, but it was quickly gone.

"What if I want to have a Pacifist run? One where everybody is freed and happy?"

"Then I will respect that and go with you."

"Great! Lead the way."

But, as I walked past them, they stabbed me in the back. Literally. My eyes fluttered open and I stared up and Chara. They had a small smile dancing on their lips.

"You didn't last very long. What happened?"

"I made the mistake of trusting them."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Chara looked around. THey danced from foot to foot, anxious to say something but unable.

"I haven't forgotten the deal yet. But, I want to ask you to let me save the monsters. You wouldn't be able to do it." And they agreed to put the deal on hold for a little while. The run was almost a complete repeat, though I didn't tell Toriel my story and was able to save two monsters more in the Ruins and about four more around Snowdin. Other than that, it was completely the same up until the bridge.. I got there quicker, saving my progress in the field of flowers not far away.

' _Hearing Flowey's worry fills you with determination to win.'_

And I did win. Frisk died there after four attempts, and the monster kid wasn't injured. Though, there was a knife in my hand for trying to stop it. I did have to heal Undyne, too, and I was left extremely exhausted because I needed her to be conscious to take the soul to Asgore.

I wasn't to weak and strained I couldn't fly off, though. I left the kid with Undyne the Undying.

I collapsed in the field of echo flowers. I cried out for my friend.

"Chara!"

Flowey popped up instead, staring at me with furious eyes. A ring of his pellets surrounded me.

"How do you know that name?"

"They're...hovering above me. They're here for the promise I'm going to keep." I summoned my soul, which had lost most of its colors. Chunks of brilliant white soul stood out around the edges and in the center. "A gift."

Chara touched the soul and Flowey screeched in surprise when she seemed to become even more visible. Chara and I quickly told Flowey what he had to do. I screamed as they did as I asked. The flower wrapped his roots and leaves around the soul, while Chara fazed through and gripped the red center.

I screamed even louder as the pulled from either side. Cracks began to form, but they didn't stop. I'd told them not to.

Tears formed in Chara's eyes, but they continued. Then all was still as they held their soul pieces. Flowey absorbed it immediately, watching as it slowly turned brighter and whiter. But it stayed sideways, just as Chara's did when they absorbed it. The cracked, red mini-soul became whole again.

I began to fade as Flowey began to grow. I began to turn to dust as the two children rejoiced as the flower began growing fur, his face elongating and his petals turning to long, droopy ears.

I smiled at the peacefulness. I felt their hands in mine and I opened my eyes. I couldn't hear them, but I could read their lips.

' _Thank you.'_


	12. Chapter 12

I watched through Chara's eyes as they and Asriel ran into their parent's astonished arms. Toriel began crying, whispering into Chara's ears. Asgore lifted his son into the air, laughing and crying as he didn so.

"Was it the halfling?" Toriel whispered through her joyful tears.

"Yes. Sh-she had us split her soul between us before...b-befor she…" CHara began crying into Toriel's fur. Asriel's heart heart panged with guilt.

' _Chara, don't cry. And Asriel, don't feel bad. I'm right here. I'm fine. Tell Toriel I love her, please.'_

"M-mom? She- Helly- wants me to tell you she loves you."

Another tear slipped down Toriel's cheek as she stared deep into Chara's eyes. It was as if she was looking at me.

"Helly, I don't...I can't thank you enough. What can I do, what can I say? You saved everyone, and you brought my children back to me."

' _Would you...never mind.'_

"What is it Helly?" Asriel whispered as he closed his eyes.

' _Well, I-...my frogitt guide knows.'_

"Your guide?"

"She wants her guide? He's here." Toriel looked around the throne room. Many of my friends were there. Monster Kid was smiling as he stood beside Undyne, who was also grinning. Sans and a tearing Papyrus. Alphys, who I didn't get to meet in this timeline, yet the scientist was smiling smally with tears in her eyes.

I bet she was thinking something like 'just like in anime!' or something.

My guide hopped forward until he was standing in front of me. I mean, in front of Chara. He was the only one with tears that weren't of happiness.

"Hello. My friend, Helly, asked me for a favor before entering Toriel's house. She wanted to rest under the tree in the Ruins when all was over. Her dust, or body, should be put there."

"We gathered what we could in her jacket then put it in this." Chara took off their shoulder bag. Where they got that beats me. "The rest of her dust was spread among the echo flowers."

' _Wait, they're called "echo flowers"? Wow, that's a really self-explanatory name.'_

Chara and Asriel giggled a little bit.

' _You know, I told you two there was no point in gathering the dust and bones. And my feathers? Seriously, you guys, I don't see the point.'_

"The point of gathering it is to show respect and how we care. Because we do. We love you very much, Helly." Asriel closed his eyes and mumbled it into his father's chest.

' _Fine, bury my bones and spread my dust, but not my feathers. My feathers are more important to me than my body. They are all that's left from my clan. My original family.'_

"Alright Helly, if that's what you want." Asriel fell asleep in his father's arms. The young goat looked peaceful and happy through the eyes of his sibling. It looked so quiet to sleep. I want to sleep…

' _Chara… I'm so tired. May I sleep now? May I move on?"_

Chara choked back a sob.

"Yes, my friend, my sister, my savior. You may sleep.

And so I did.


End file.
